Reid to restrict rights for new EU workers

A "points system" is to be imposed on workers from Romania and Bulgaria in an attempt to stem the growing tide of immigration to the UK.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, is to use his speech to the Labour Party conference, which starts today, to reveal the scheme, based on qualifications and experience, to limit the number of immigrants from the two new EU accession states.

The scheme will be similar to that used for migrants from outside the EU.

Labour Party officials have told The Sunday Telegraph that Mr Reid is determined to show that the Government is "getting tough" on immigration as the public's concern grows over the waves of foreign workers coming into Britain.

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About 600,000 people have come to Britain from the eight eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004, when the Government imposed no restrictions. At the time, officials said the influx would be between 5,000 and 13,000. The EU is expected to confirm on Tuesday that Romania and Bulgaria will join the union in January.

Anti-immigration campaigners welcomed the imposition of limits on the number of immigrants allowed to work in the UK as "a glimmer of common sense".

Migration Watch UK, which campaigns against mass immigration, predicted 300,000 arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria over 20 months if access to the labour market is unrestricted.

Mr Reid hinted last week in a speech to the Police Superintendents' Association annual conference in Chester that he might impose restrictions.

"As global migration increases and the EU continues to expand, we need to be ready for fresh challenges - including in the law-enforcement field," he said. "That is why we need to manage immigration carefully, including in respect of the forthcoming decision over Romania and Bulgaria."

Romania's ambassador to the UK, Dan Ghibernea, claimed, however, that only "5,000 to 7,000" workers would come from Romania in the first 20 months.